Editor’s note: New details have emerged since this story was originally published. For the latest information and complete coverage on the fire that killed 19 firefighters and destroyed more than 100 homes, visit yarnell.azcentral.com.

Containment of Arizona’s most deadly wildfire reached 90 percent on Friday, with a reduced number of firefighters targeting hotspots while the Yarnell Hill Fire continued to smolder.

Utility companies are working to restore service so that anxious Yarnell residents will be allowed to return home, when they will view the fire-ravaged area for the first time.

“The weather has been in our favor and our crews have been working hard to find the hotspots and put them out,” said Suzanne Flory, a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman.

As Yarnell residents brace themselves for their emotional return home to the mountain town, the number of firefighters assigned to the wildfire dropped by 100 on Friday to 451.

Full containment, which means the entire fire area is surrounded by fire lines to prevent it from spreading, is expected by July 12.

The Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office had not by Friday cleared residents to return home. Fire officials said the timing depends on the progress of utility companies working to restore service.

Lt. Nate Auvenshine of the Sheriff's Office told Yarnell residents that APS crews must first restore the power lines and Yarnell Water Co. has to get water to the remaining homes in the fire-ravaged town, Auvenshine said.

About 100 people attended a meeting Friday morning at the American Red Cross shelter at Wickenburg High School. Fourteen people stayed at the shelter Thursday night and other Yarnell residents are staying in motels and homes in the area.

“There are still firefighters in your community,” said Auvenshine, adding that crews are also checking propane tanks to remove those that are damaged are marking those that are safe.

The Sheriff's Office is also doing welfare checks on anyone that remained in Yarnell and giving water and food to pets and livestock they encounter, he said.

Residents will be allowed back in first and then business owners but the timetable for that will be discussed later Friday, he said.

Mike Cole, APS northwest division manager, said about 80 of the utility's workers are busy installing 40 power poles and restringing lines to the remaining homes.

Denny Foulk, Yavapai County emergency management coordinator, warned Yarnell residents to beware of scam artists trying to do work for them.

As part of the recovery, portable toilets will be installed in Yarnell, along with trash dumpsters to help with the cleanup. Rakes, shovels and other tools will also be available to residents, Foulk said.

The Salvation Army and other groups will help with short- and long-term housing needs.

Foulk also warned that rain will not soak into the fire-scarred soil and that could lead to flooding if there are heavy rains.

"We had a light rain this morning and that's what we want to see," he said.

The Sheriff’s Office allowed Peeples Valley residents only to return to their homes as of late Thursday afternoon but some decided not to return until Friday morning. Roadblocks prevented others from entering the small community.

The fire was 90 percent contained as of Friday, with mop-up work continuing near structures in Yarnell and northwest of the fire, according to the U.S. Forest Service’s website. Fire officials said they hope to have it fully contained within the next few days.

Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., spoke with relatives of the 19 firefighters killed Sunday but did not tour fire-ravaged areas for fear of creating a distraction.

McCain and Flake pledged to push for legislation aimed at expediting the thinning of forests thick with grasses and other fuels that make wildfires more intense and destructive.

McCain said it appears that a sudden shift in winds was primarily responsible for the firefighters' deaths, adding that the tragedy “was not something that was preventable.”

The fire is under investigation by an independent plan that will study all of the contributing factors in hopes of preventing future deaths.

“We need to make it so that the damage caused by fires is not as catastrophic as what we just saw,’’ McCain said.

Flake noted he grew up in Snowflake, also a small town.

“The magnitude of this kind of tragedy in a small town is enormous,’’ Flake said.

He vowed to work on legislation to thin forests, “to help us save our forests, to save our communities, to save our firefighters.’’

McCain said that they will work to obtain a federal declaration of an emergency that would make more aid available to residents. He also noted that more air tankers are needed to fight fires and that their numbers are dwindling because of age.

“It’s hard to express the sorrow that we feel and that all Arizonans feel,’’ McCain said.

The fire has burned 8,400 acres and is not expected to grow. There was 670 firefighters working in Yarnell, and some may be released for rest and relocation, fire crews said.

Crews worked to restore power for residents who could be allowed to return home Saturday. About 20 utility trucks in Yarnell were working to put up poles and connect power lines.

“The key is getting back the power,” said Suzanne Flory of the Southwest Incident Management Team. “We’re working hard to get people back into their homes.”

On Thursday, Maricopa County released preliminary autopsy reports on the 19 fallen members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots.

All died of fire-related injuries, generally consisting of two aspects: burns to the body and inhalation problems that can include carbon-monoxide poisoning or a lack of oxygen, said Cari Gerchick, a Maricopa County spokeswoman.

The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office completed the examinations on Wednesday and the firefighters’ families were notified.

Operations-section chief Carl Schwope said Thursday he expected full containment “sometime before July 12.”

Fire crews have reduced the number of helicopters used to fight the blaze to four, with two being used for rescues and support only, as 676 firefighters continued to put out spot fires on the ground.

The blaze had abated enough that the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office lifted the evacuation of Peeples Valley, on the northern end of the Yarnell Hill Fire, at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, though some residents said they would remain in shelters for another night and return home in the morning.

Yarnell residents remain under an evacuation order.

“I just got the news that my house was still standing,” said Gail Miller of Glen Ilah. She wanted to know when she could return home, but was given no clear answer.

“I don’t think it will be tonight,” said Chuck Tidey, the president of Yarnell-Peeples Resident Valley Chamber of Commerce. “We’re all getting tired and short-tempered and everything else,” he said. Everyone is anxious to get back into their homes.

Two structures were damaged in Peeples Valley, while 127 were lost in Yarnell. Crews are still working to restore power in Yarnell and are hopeful residents can return to that area by Saturday.

Peeples Valley resident Cindy Carrillo, 55, said she left her home in such a hurry that she did not have time to grab her cellphone or a belt.

“My britches were falling off,” Carrillo said. An animal shelter near where she was staying lent her a leash to use as a belt.

She has been at a Red Cross shelter since Monday morning, but on Thursday afternoon, she was conflicted about returning home.

Sheriff’s officials expressed concerns that some residents of Yarnell and Peeples Valley who refused to evacuate could have been killed, but they quickly added that they have no evidence of additional deaths.

Tours behind firelines showed an erratic fire pattern fueled by high winds, with some houses spared and others torched.

John Russell, chief deputy of the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office, said deputies have compiled a list of structures damaged in the fire but have been unable to go house to house to check on residents because of the fire’s heat.

Aerial images show damage on the west side of the boulder-strewn community on the lower heights of the surrounding mountains. Some homes and other buildings were burned to the ground, while others nearby appeared to be untouched.

The Shrine of St. Joseph, a popular attraction in Yarnell, was partially damaged. A chapel appeared to be intact, but buildings used as a retreat center were burned. Some of the shrine’s concrete statues were visible from overhead, but others were obscured by trees.

Yarnell, a hamlet of fewer than 700 people, most of them 45 and older, has been evacuated since Sunday, the day 19 firefighters were killed in a flashover as they tried to protect the community, about 30 miles southwest of Prescott.

Log entries indicate that the Arizona State Forestry Division’s dispatch center on Pinnacle Peak Road in Phoenix was notified shortly before 5 p.m. Sunday that the firefighters had deployed their fire shelters in an effort to save themselves.

An Arizona Department of Public Safety crew flew to the site, and a medic hiked to their location on Sunday evening, confirming that all 19 had died.

A team of state and federal experts is continuing its investigation into the deaths and is expected to produce a preliminary report on its findings within 60 days.

The bodies of the 19 fallen firefighters were driven to Phoenix in a solemn motorcade on Monday, the morning after the Yarnell Hill Fire overtook them during heavy winds. The Yavapai County medical examiner did not have adequate facilities to conduct the large-scale examination.

The autopsy findings released Thursday are preliminary, with a full autopsy report on each firefighter expected to be released when completed within a couple of months, Gerchick said.

The office worked this week to collect scientific evidence that investigators need to complete the reports and to release the firefighters’ bodies back to their families as quickly as possible, she said.

“That allows for the death certificates to be signed and for the families to bury their loved ones,” she said.

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